good morning!

Now isn't this a sweet picture of the perfect mother? She's obviously showered, make-uped, dressed, made a healthy breakfast, dressed her kids, did her daughter's hair and has immaculately cleaned her house by, from the looks of it, about 8:00am. What?! Don't you want to just give her a noogey and scribble on her white cupboards and walls?
Ok, ok, so the Lord has been working on my morning attitude A LOT lately. He has been giving me helpful hints on how I could make our days more enjoyable at home. This list may sound silly to some of you out there, but to those of you who are NOT morning people and/or have little children who literally bounce out of bed at the crack of dawn, you will understand.
This is the running reminder list in my head:
1) Try to get up before your children (ok, this one rarely happens).
2) Kiss Andy good morning when you get out of bed.
3) Invite Jesus into your day before you get out of bed.
4) Don't use a yelling voice as your first words of the day.
5) Smile.
6) Give your kids a big cuddly hug when they wake you up, breathing in your face.
7) If you hear Avery sleepily missing the toilet, DO NOT grind your teeth while you think about how you JUST cleaned the bathroom.
8) If you hear sibling rivalry at 5:45am, remember #4.
9) Listen to your favorite worship cd in the morning, before cartoons come on.

The list could go on and on but these are the main ones. My attitude is always the gauge on how the day will go. I am understanding that I set the emotional tone for our family. That seems like a pretty big burden to carry, but doesn't Jesus say something to us about that? Oh, yes...something about taking His yoke upon me and learning from him (Matt. 11:28-30). When I remember this it is amazing how easy His yoke really is. Waking up and allowing His Spirit to mold my attitude is SO worth it! I'm learning from Him, but it takes lots and lots of practice though. Its a good thing His mercies are new EVERY MORNING!